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Monthly Archives: April 2013

Thirteen-year-old Dylan Morris gets ready for this week’s informational meeting. Residents returned to find bottle water, sandwiches and cleaning supplies — as well as the news volunteers will be coming to help.

After a winter to rival the years-long version on “Game of Thrones” — assuming we’re actually entering the after phase — locally-grown produce has never sounded better. So good timing for Canton Main Street and Spoon River College, which just held an organizational meeting for the 2013 version of the Farmer’s Market at Jones Park.

The group plans to add some kids’ activities and entertainment, as well as launching an initiative to have any extra food donated to local food pantries. New vendors are welcome. For more information, contact Canton Main Street’s Dana Smith at 647.2677, extension 1.

According to Smith, the market will be held from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturdays, starting June 1.

In 2012, ospreys nested at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge for the first time since God was a baby. The state of Illinois classifies ospreys as an endangered species, so this was great — if inconvenient — news. The birds chose to next on power poles by the pump station. The electricity had to be shut off and the nearby auto travel loop was restricted. But two new ospreys were raised over the summer.

In the fall, after the birds left, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Menard Electric Cooperative combined forces to move the osprey nest from the power poles to a specially-built platform nearby. Plastic was put on top of the power poles, in hopes the birds would be diverted.

It seems to have worked.

According to information from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the ospreys returned April 1, and they weren’t fooling. A week later, they were seen building a nest.

So foot traffic has been curtailed around the nest to accommodate the birds, which can be fierce when defending their young. But a May 11 auto tour probably won’t be affected.

The former Canton Park District head/volunteer organizer is also an Army veteran who served in Korea 1952-54. He was able to take a whirlwind one-day trip to the nation’s capitol via the not-for-profit organization known as Honor Flight Network.

“I’ve never seen anything this organized,” Ems said. “It was just fantastic.”

As usual, Ems doesn’t want to take center stage, and says all veterans should be recognized. Since he said he took “about a hundred pictures,” maybe we can get him to share some of them later.